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Benjamin Netanyahu visits Hungary, challenging ICC arrest warrant

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban received his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. On the occasion of the visit, Hungary announced its withdrawal from the ICC.

A highly symbolic visit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Hungary on Thursday 3 April, exposing the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), at the invitation of his unwavering ally Viktor Orban.

“Welcome to Budapest,” Defence Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky wrote on Facebook, who came to welcome the head of the Budapest airport tonight.

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He began a multi-day visit, the first to Europe since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

After the military honors at the presidential palace, Benjamin Netanyahu was received in the morning by his counterpart for discussion. This is an opportunity to rally Hungarian support for US President Donald Trump’s plan to take control of the Gaza Strip and expel its inhabitants.

Hungary reminded its “responsibility”

However, the scope of this displacement is above all symbolic. Following the ICC’s announcement in November 2024 of the arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, Benjamin Netanyahu went to the United States but never before to a State party to the Hague-based jurisdiction.

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“The ultimate goal is to regain the ability to travel wherever he wants,” Moshe Klughaft, a consultant and former adviser to the Israeli leader, said, to AFP.

Through this visit “to a country where he is not afraid of arrest, he opens the way to normalising his future trips”, perhaps for example in Germany where the future Chancellor Friedrich Merz has guaranteed that he could come undisturbed.

Hungary leaves ICC

Viktor Orban invited him to the known ICC news, saying he was “shocked by a shameful decision”. In return, Benjamin Netanyahu praised Hungary’s “moral clarity.”

A founding member of the International Criminal Court, Hungary is theoretically obliged to arrest and surrender any person subject to an arrest warrant from the Court. But the country announced on Thursday its withdrawal from the ICC on the occasion of Netanyahu’s visit.

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A prospect already mentioned by the Hungarian president after Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the court prosecutor, Karim Khan, in February.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed a “clear and strong moral position alongside Israel”, criticizing the ICC for its “willingness to undermine Israel’s right to self-defence”.

Benjamin Netanyahu visits Hungary, challenging ICC arrest warrant
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (g.) and Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on 3 April 2025 in Budapest. – Bernadett Szabo, Reuters

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